However, a spokesperson for the BBC defended the question, explaining that many, including Punjab's chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, had said the trip was a "homecoming".

"Our reporter asked the Mayor a question in the context of the trip being referred to by senior politicians in the region as a homecoming. The full answer the Mayor gave shows he understood the context of the question," they told The Telegraph.

During the segment on BBC News at Ten earlier this week, footage of Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor's nephew Rishi Kapoor were shown, but there were no images or video of Kapoor himself.

Paul Royall, editor of BBC News at Six and Ten, went on to apologise for the error.

"BBC News at Ten is very sorry the wrong images were used to mark the death of Shashi Kapoor," he said on Twitter.

"The piece did not meet its usual standards and the programme has apologised for any upset."